Index: plugins/menu/src/main/resources/freemarker/essentials-menu.ftl
IDEA additional info:
Subsystem: com.intellij.openapi.diff.impl.patch.CharsetEP
<+>UTF-8
===================================================================
--- plugins/menu/src/main/resources/freemarker/essentials-menu.ftl	(revision 57952)
+++ plugins/menu/src/main/resources/freemarker/essentials-menu.ftl	(revision )
@@ -4,10 +4,17 @@
 <#if menu??>
 <ul class="nav nav-pills">
     <#list menu.siteMenuItems as item>
+        <#if item.hstLink??>
+            <#assign href><@hst.link link=item.hstLink/></#assign>
+        <#elseif item.externalLink??>
+            <#assign href>${item.externalLink}</#assign>
+        <#else>
+            <#assign href=''>
+        </#if>
         <#if  item.selected || item.expanded>
-            <li class="active"><a href="<@hst.link link=item.hstLink/>">${item.name?html}</a></li>
+            <li class="active"><a href="${href}">${item.name?html}</a></li>
         <#else>
-            <li><a href="<@hst.link link=item.hstLink/>">${item.name?html}</a></li>
+            <li><a href="${href}">${item.name?html}</a></li>
         </#if>
     </#list>
 </ul>
\ No newline at end of file
Index: plugins/menu/src/main/resources/freemarker/essentials-menu-navbar.ftl
IDEA additional info:
Subsystem: com.intellij.openapi.diff.impl.patch.CharsetEP
<+>UTF-8
===================================================================
--- plugins/menu/src/main/resources/freemarker/essentials-menu-navbar.ftl	(revision 57952)
+++ plugins/menu/src/main/resources/freemarker/essentials-menu-navbar.ftl	(revision )
@@ -5,10 +5,17 @@
 <nav class="navbar navbar-default">
     <ul class="nav navbar-nav">
         <#list menu.siteMenuItems as item>
+            <#if item.hstLink??>
+                <#assign href><@hst.link link=item.hstLink/></#assign>
+            <#elseif item.externalLink??>
+                <#assign href>${item.externalLink}</#assign>
+            <#else>
+                <#assign href=''>
+            </#if>
             <#if  item.selected || item.expanded>
-                <li class="active"><a href="<@hst.link link=item.hstLink/>">${item.name?html}</a></li>
+                <li class="active"><a href="${href}">${item.name?html}</a></li>
             <#else>
-                <li><a href="<@hst.link link=item.hstLink/>">${item.name?html}</a></li>
+                <li><a href="${href}">${item.name?html}</a></li>
             </#if>
         </#list>
     </ul>
\ No newline at end of file
Index: plugins/skeleton-package/src/main/resources/instructions/jsp/base-top-menu.jsp
IDEA additional info:
Subsystem: com.intellij.openapi.diff.impl.patch.CharsetEP
<+>UTF-8
===================================================================
--- plugins/skeleton-package/src/main/resources/instructions/jsp/base-top-menu.jsp	(revision 57952)
+++ plugins/skeleton-package/src/main/resources/instructions/jsp/base-top-menu.jsp	(revision )
@@ -8,11 +8,16 @@
       <ul class="nav nav-pills">
         <c:forEach var="item" items="${requestScope.menu.siteMenuItems}">
           <c:choose>
+            <c:when test="${not empty item.hstLink}"><c:set var="href"><hst:link link="${item.hstLink}"/></c:set></c:when>
+            <c:when test="${not empty item.externalLink}"><c:set var="href">${item.externalLink}</c:set></c:when>
+            <c:otherwise><c:set var="href" value=""/></c:otherwise>
+          </c:choose>
+          <c:choose>
             <c:when test="${item.selected or item.expanded}">
-              <li class="active"><a href="<hst:link link="${item.hstLink}"/>"><c:out value="${item.name}"/></a></li>
+              <li class="active"><a href="${href}"><c:out value="${item.name}"/></a></li>
             </c:when>
             <c:otherwise>
-              <li><a href="<hst:link link="${item.hstLink}"/>"><c:out value="${item.name}"/></a></li>
+              <li><a href="${href}"><c:out value="${item.name}"/></a></li>
             </c:otherwise>
           </c:choose>
         </c:forEach>
Index: plugins/skeleton-package/src/main/resources/instructions/freemarker/base-top-menu.ftl
IDEA additional info:
Subsystem: com.intellij.openapi.diff.impl.patch.CharsetEP
<+>UTF-8
===================================================================
--- plugins/skeleton-package/src/main/resources/instructions/freemarker/base-top-menu.ftl	(revision 57952)
+++ plugins/skeleton-package/src/main/resources/instructions/freemarker/base-top-menu.ftl	(revision )
@@ -6,10 +6,17 @@
   <#if menu.siteMenuItems??>
     <ul class="nav nav-pills">
       <#list menu.siteMenuItems as item>
+        <#if item.hstLink??>
+          <#assign href><@hst.link link=item.hstLink/></#assign>
+        <#elseif item.externalLink??>
+          <#assign href>${item.externalLink}</#assign>
+        <#else>
+          <#assign href=''>
+        </#if>
-        <#if  item.selected || item.expanded>
+        <#if item.selected || item.expanded>
-          <li class="active"><a href="<@hst.link link=item.hstLink/>">${item.name?html}</a></li>
+          <li class="active"><a href="${href}">${item.name?html}</a></li>
         <#else>
-          <li><a href="<@hst.link link=item.hstLink/>">${item.name?html}</a></li>
+          <li><a href="${href}">${item.name?html}</a></li>
         </#if>
       </#list>
     </ul>
\ No newline at end of file
Index: plugins/menu/src/main/resources/freemarker/essentials-menu-vertical.ftl
IDEA additional info:
Subsystem: com.intellij.openapi.diff.impl.patch.CharsetEP
<+>UTF-8
===================================================================
--- plugins/menu/src/main/resources/freemarker/essentials-menu-vertical.ftl	(revision 57952)
+++ plugins/menu/src/main/resources/freemarker/essentials-menu-vertical.ftl	(revision )
@@ -4,10 +4,17 @@
 <#if menu??>
 <ul class="nav nav-pills nav-stacked">
     <#list menu.siteMenuItems as item>
+        <#if item.hstLink??>
+            <#assign href><@hst.link link=item.hstLink/></#assign>
+        <#elseif item.externalLink??>
+            <#assign href>${item.externalLink}</#assign>
+        <#else>
+            <#assign href=''>
+        </#if>
-        <#if  item.selected || item.expanded>
+        <#if item.selected || item.expanded>
-            <li class="active"><a href="<@hst.link link=item.hstLink/>">${item.name?html}</a></li>
+            <li class="active"><a href="${href}">${item.name?html}</a></li>
         <#else>
-            <li><a href="<@hst.link link=item.hstLink/>">${item.name?html}</a></li>
+            <li><a href="${href}">${item.name?html}</a></li>
         </#if>
     </#list>
 </ul>
\ No newline at end of file
Index: plugins/menu/src/main/resources/jsp/essentials-menu.jsp
IDEA additional info:
Subsystem: com.intellij.openapi.diff.impl.patch.CharsetEP
<+>UTF-8
===================================================================
--- plugins/menu/src/main/resources/jsp/essentials-menu.jsp	(revision 57952)
+++ plugins/menu/src/main/resources/jsp/essentials-menu.jsp	(revision )
@@ -5,11 +5,16 @@
   <ul class="nav nav-pills">
     <c:forEach var="item" items="${requestScope.menu.siteMenuItems}">
       <c:choose>
+        <c:when test="${not empty item.hstLink}"><c:set var="href"><hst:link link="${item.hstLink}"/></c:set></c:when>
+        <c:when test="${not empty item.externalLink}"><c:set var="href">${item.externalLink}</c:set></c:when>
+        <c:otherwise><c:set var="href" value=""/></c:otherwise>
+      </c:choose>
+      <c:choose>
         <c:when test="${item.selected or item.expanded}">
-          <li class="active"><a href="<hst:link link="${item.hstLink}"/>"><c:out value="${item.name}"/></a></li>
+          <li class="active"><a href="${href}"><c:out value="${item.name}"/></a></li>
         </c:when>
         <c:otherwise>
-          <li><a href="<hst:link link="${item.hstLink}"/>"><c:out value="${item.name}"/></a></li>
+          <li><a href="${href}"><c:out value="${item.name}"/></a></li>
         </c:otherwise>
       </c:choose>
     </c:forEach>